LAKE FOREST, Ill. - Playing in their first-ever Midwest Conference Championship Game Saturday afternoon, Ripon proved that they belong among the top teams in the MWC, as they gave 16th-ranked and undefeated Lake Forest College all they could handle, before losing to the Foresters, 5-2.

The game was tightly contested for much of the day, as the two teams found themselves tied at one after one half of play. After Lake Forest (20-0) scored in the opening minute on Kayla Wuest's eighth goal of the season, Ripon (13-6) showed what they were made of, battling back to tie the game in the 25th minute on Alyssa Kennedy's fourth goal of the year. Kaylee Tadych added to her MWC single season assist record with her 20th of the year on that play.

Six minutes into the second period, Lake Forest broke that tie, as Michelle Greenway scored her conference-leading 31st goal of the season. Three minutes later, the Foresters found the back of the net again on Katelyn Hronek's fourth goal of the year, before Greenway added her second goal of the game just 21 seconds after that for a 4-1 Lake Forest lead. The Foresters' Holly Lesperance added a goal in the 80th minute to put the game out of reach. Ripon never quit though, as Kennedy put a second goal on the board in the 82nd minute on an assist from Brandi Peltier.

That ends a year that saw Ripon achieve their third consecutive winning season with a school-record 13 victories. Their 64 goals this year are the second-most in program history, while their 28 goals allowed are tied for the fifth fewest in program history.